Online Collaborative Learning and Learning Styles

Abstract

The need for the development of an online learning community for professional development and support for new and experienced educators is growing due to the significant turnover of teachers within the first five years (National Center for Teaching and America’s Future, 2003). This trend is also present in other countries: England has a turnover rate of teachers at 18% in the first three years (Hayes, 2004), and Australia, especially in the New South Wales area, has a rate of between 20% and 50% within the first three to five years (Manuel, 2003). This challenge would be best met through the online collaborative learning model allowing for the development of outside resources without the excessive cost of the educator’s most valuable commodity: time. This process is especially valuable for the utilization of comparative education issues between cooperating countries as it will lend itself to the collegiality of educators across countries and cultures.